Leverage Academy Blog Understanding Bankruptcy as the World Collapses Around You (1)

We have seen the dire economic consequences of excessive consumer, corporate, financial, and sovereign leverage of the past 5 years. Our global economy has been a punching bag for corporate greed, political incompetency, and poor central bank planning. From shadow banking and derivatives ("weapons of mass destruction" according to Mr. Buffet) in the United States to Greece's fraudulent attempt to the enter the Eurozone, world markets have been whipsawed every year since 2007. I cannot help but feel deep remorse after witnessing multiple occasions of the VIX above 40, sovereign CDS making multi-year highs, and political uprising. Five years later, we have yet to learn that leverage is the primary cause of our pain. Despite an Icelandic bankruptcy, 2 Greek bailouts, a Portuguese bailout, and Irish bailout, and a U.S. bank bailout, 35% of U.S. homes underwater, and 20%+ unemployment rates in certain Western nations, student loans have emerged as yet another bubble, the U.S. consumer savings rate remains below 4%, European banks are levered 26x on average, and countries continue to borrow at astronomical rates. Are we doomed to repeat our mistakes? Sadly, the answer seems to be yes. Every 2 generations (70-80 years), individuals tend to forget the pain that their forefathers felt in a deep economic contraction. The Great Depression certainly did its job. Maybe we need a constant painful reminder to reign in our tendency to express "irrational exuberance?" Luckily, for learning purposes, a global debt deleveraging cycle is the most painful type of contraction. Hopefully, our children and grandchildren can learn from our mistakes. Until then, I have started this series to explain the BANKRUPTCY process, specifically the U.S. Ch. 11 process, as I continue to do my part to clean up the riff-raff, the banksters, the incompetent politicians, and the corrupt corporate bureaucrats holding back true capitalism. Bankruptcy is governed by federal statute (11 U.S.C., Section 101): For the equitable distribution among creditors and shareholders of a debtor's estate in accordance with either the principle of absolute priorities or the vote of bankruptcy majorities of holders of claims To provide a reasonable opportunity, under Chapter 11, to effect a reorganization of business For the opportunity to make a "fresh start" through, among other things, the discharge of debts The goals of bankruptcy are: To afford the greatest possibility of resolution for the estate as a whole, while maintaining the balance of power as between all creditors and the debtor as of the petition date